Apparently there will be no change, and no hope either

by Janie Jones

So it would seem life in America will remain an Obamination.

I seriously doubt I have anything elegant, witty, or snarky to say today. I’m just rambling, feeling lost, and am not even sure this post can qualify as a rant. The gray, bleak November Great White North landscape is a perfect illustration of my inner sensations. I am vaguely aware of being disappointed at not being able to say I was wrong in predicting this particular outcome, but I really, really wanted to wake up pleasantly surprised to be wrong and have a better outcome than I had faith in. That said, mostly I just feel like the end of a worn out, tired fall. The end of the golden days is upon us and a long hard winter is coming. Buckle down and prepare for the worst. What is left to do or say?

Okay, I confess, I do have something else to say: I voted. I didn’t have much confidence it would do any real good, but it was my duty to do so and at least give a show of faith in what is left of the democratic process. So I did. But the cold, dark side of democracy that no one talks about is the side that doesn’t win. It doesn’t talk about how miserable it feels knowing you are mostly likely going to lose, and then actually losing and knowing in the pit of your gut that the “winning side” is against everything you believe in, yet you have to lump it and accept it. Losing is a part of the deal, but it seems the older I get the more losing is happening and there is absolutely nothing good coming of the “winning side” to make any kind of consolation possible. Compounding the frustration is the complete feeling of helplessness to do anything to improve the situation but cast a useless vote.

What do I, simple Janie Jones, know about government and politics? Nothing. I just have a feeling. Apparently, however, just enough more Americans think my POV is crap (or at least enough are willing to be dishonest about the election process), than agree or we wouldn’t be in this situation. It would seem to be a distasteful truth then, that according to the way our democratic republic is run, if you lose, then your beliefs about what should happen in your country suddenly don’t matter and you are ignored at best and demonized at worst.

So, what am I left with? Well, if nothing else I can always say that by casting my vote and not seeing the results I wished for, I at the very least earned the right to complain about the crappy hand we’ve been dealt. But I won’t complain. At least not today. At least not much. And, besides, I’m sure there’s zillions of other prolific political bloggers more eloquent in their soliloquies than I could ever be, so why add more hot air when I could be stocking up on toilet paper and food to get me through what promises to be a long, dark winter.

Janie, I followed your link from your comment on my blog 🙂 I just want to say…don’t despair. I know exactly how you feel, and honestly I’m having a rough time coping with all the same things you mentioned, but there is still a fight to be fought and dammit we’re gonna fight it. We have to. We CANNOT end up like Europe. I’m sitting here in Italy despondent because it occurs to me now that by the time I move back to America in a few more years, it’ll be just like what I’m leaving here, if not worse because America had so much more to lose. And I’m frustrated beyond belief because I feel like there’s nothing I can do from over here to help America.

That’s why I keep blogging. It’s the only thing I can do right now. We have to stick together and be our own little community of moral support.